Essential drug

essential medicines (EMs)', as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), are those medicines that "meet priority health care needs of the population".

Selection is based on: relevance to public health, evidence of efficacy and safety, and comparative effectiveness relative to cost. The WHO recommends that EM be available in health systems at all times, in sufficient quantities, in the appropriate pharmaceutical presentation, with quality and information guarantees, and at a generally affordable price for patients and the community. Since 1977, the WHO has published a model list of essential medicines, with the current (2019) WHO model list of essential medicines for adult patients containing more than 400 medicines. Since 2007, a model list of essential medicines for children has been published of the WHO.

Both the WHO list of medicines for adults and children contain an annotation that a certain medicine is 'complementary', so there are essentially two lists, the basic list and the complementary list. The Basic List presents a list of minimum drug needs for a basic health care system, listing the most effective, safe and cost-effective drugs for priority conditions. Priority conditions are selected based on their current and estimated future importance to public health, and the potential for safe and cost-effective treatment. The complementary list presents essential medicines for priority diseases, for which specialized diagnostic or monitoring facilities are needed. In case of doubt, medicines may also be included in the complementary list due to their higher cost or lower profitability in various contexts. The list is important because it forms the basis of national drug policy in more than 155 countries, both in the developed and developing world. Many governments refer to WHO recommendations when making decisions about health spending. Countries are encouraged to prepare their own lists taking into account local priorities. More than 150 countries have published an official list of essential medicines.

Globally recognized concept

On October 21, 1977, the first WHO Essential Medicines List was approved by the first Expert Committee for the Selection of Essential Medicines. The most recent are the eighteenth list for adults and the fourth list for children, both published in April 2013. By the end of 1999, 156 countries already had official lists of essential medicines and treatment guidelines have already been developed in 135 countries. for the most common diseases and symptoms.

Cost-benefit ratio

Profitability is the subject of debate between the producers (pharmaceutical companies) and the buyers of medicines (national health services). It is estimated that access to essential medicines could save 10 million people a year.

History

The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines has been updated every two years since 1977. The 21st version was published in April 2019.

List of medicines for children

The first edition of the "WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children," was published in 2007, while the seventh edition was published in 2019. It was created to make sure that the needs of children were systematically taken into account, such as the availability of suitable formulations. The first edition contained 450 formulations of 200 different medicines.

Number of medications

The number of drugs has nearly doubled, from the original 208 in 1977 to more than 340. The range has grown over the years and now includes an anti-migraine drug, antidotes, and antineoplastic drugs. The third list for children of 2011 contains 269 medications.

Society and culture

Access to essential medicines is part of the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically objective 3.8.